The commentary was quickly criticised by angry viewers on social media who said ailments such as those suffered by Fox and Redford were far from ‘fun’.

‘We regret the insensitive classification of Michael J Fox’s Parkinson’s diagnosis during our E! Online live stream. We understand the serious nature of the disease and sincerely apologise,’ E! stated in an apology following the incident.

Dan Amira, a writer for late night US satire programme The Daily Show, took the opportunity to lampoon the situation and composed a number of ‘fun facts’ of his own.

‘Fun Fact: There’s no afterlife. Just eternal nothingness,’ one of his statements quipped following the incident.